Footprints line the beach up and down the edge of the surf from the thousands of people who take walks every day. Where are they going, and who do they belong to?

I remember as a child trying to jump from print to print to see if any would match as I walked the beach with my Mom or Dad or a friend. But none ever seemed to be a perfect fit. Some were too large, some to small, others too wide. After awhile, they would all disappear in the sand as if they never even existed.

Trying to fit into another's footprints was only a lie to myself of trying to fit into someone else’s life. Those prints before me were memories made by the people who left them. Why was I trying to conform to a stranger’s impact on the world?

Footprints on the sand are never forever. They are imprinted and branded on the earth for as long as the ocean permits before they are wiped away by one swoop of a crashing wave. There is no “forever” in a footprint, but something seems so permanent and peaceful about seeing all the hundreds and hundreds of footprints on the beach every day. They may all be different every few feet you travel, but they are always there.

This reminds me of the people we encounter in life. Everyday, we pass by hundreds of strangers, old friends, new friends and future friends as we go on with our own lives. Will those people make a difference and impact in our lives, or have they already? Will their prints match next yours as you walk, or do they always jump ahead, always just out of stride with your own?

Not every memory made is going to be a good one. Not every person we meet will last forever in our lives, no matter how badly we want them to. We can jump from print to print, hoping to change our fate, but the truth is always going to be right there---even if we can’t fit in or keep up with the footprints made around us no matter how hard we try, a force greater than us will always take it away. Before we know it, we will be left alone once the powerful force of the ocean overcomes and takes away all and any bread crumbs those people had left for us to follow them.

But why follow someone else’s imprint on the world—shouldn’t we all try to make our own way into the great unknown? Or does the thought of being alone—even the idea of our footprints in the sand being lonesome—scare us so badly we will fight the pull of the waves and battle with fate to save ourselves from walking alone?

There will come a point where we all need to realize that life is not always going to go the way we planned.

Sometimes, you need to just brave it out and stop walking in the rat race and following the ones around us. Try something new, and when life gets too tough, let your prints veer off running into the ocean as you close your eyes, hold your breath and jump into the ice cold water and hope to God you can swim.

A little secret—you will. Only if you completely give up and lose faith in yourself will you ever sink. Don’t ever give up.

But if it gets too hard and you forget how to swim, float in the water until a new wave forms for you to ride back to shore where you can try again on a new journey to leave your new mark.

When you see that wave, don’t hesitate and wait for the next one, thinking the next could be better; there will always seem to be “better” if you let yourself believe that. If you find yourself faced with the next wave in your life, ride the wave and don’t ask where it’s going.

Losing out on any possible greatness in your life out of fear, hesitation or stubbornness will leave you in regret for the ride you missed. You can never feel the rush if you don’t take the risk. And the risk is always going to be worth the ride every time.

If we hesitate, and let ourselves question what is right in front of us out of that fear, we could lose out on life’s greatest rushes. Isn’t that what life is all about, anyway?

Don’t let any moment pass you by for a chance to really live. Any moment of hesitation will leave you confused about what path to take next, or who to walk with on that journey.

Hesitating will also give the ocean time to form a new wave while you stand debating on what lifestyle or person is worth it. And before you know it, the footprints on the edge of the beach will be wiped away…leaving you alone.

You can't ride two horses with one ass.

A quote from Sweet Home Alabama...basically it means that no matter how hard you try or want the best of both worlds...you can't. There comes a time in everyone's life where they must choose. When they come to a cross roads to their future and have to decide: but the problem today with so many people is that when they are faced with the unknown, instead of choosing they tend to fall back and not leave their comfort zone. Who is losing out? Who is never going to see where their future may lie if they don't push forward and try?

That idea has been in my head for a long time now. There has always been two different life styles for me to think and mule over for the past two years. What do you do when you find everything in your heart you have ever thought you wanted, but you know in your head it is all wrong. That everything you have ever dreamed about, everything you have wanted in the real world is leading you in a direction away from that heartfelt desire? To me, I have realized there are very, very few boys who have affected me in a way to make me stop running in my personal race to achieve my goals and make me really stop and consider giving them up. That in a scary dog-eat-dog world, do I really want to be part of that rat race to get ahead when I could be perfectly happy with that boy...if only I would let them?

But, like the movie, sometimes love is not enough. Your dreams and goals will always be in the back of your mind and if you don't try to at least attempt to go for them...well I am afraid that I might regret that one day down the road. At least that is what I tell myself now. But from those very few boys who meant something to me, they have all said that I deserve more than anything they can give me, that I am going somewhere. Maybe they are right. I know if I don't let myself get distracted or let someone hold me back, I might actually get my pipe dream and be something. And those boys are still in my life...and with their words in the back of my mind...and knowing how I feel about them...it helps me push forward. Because only I know what I think I deserve. And while I found it insulting to hear those words, I am using them to push forward. To me, they were amazing people who did not realize their own potential. So I am going to push myself forward to be something...if they have such high opinions of me, I want to prove them right. So if anything maybe I'll be ahead of the rat race to spite words I hate to hear...but in a positive way.

In the movie, the girl leaves her best friend who is the love of her life because she doesn't want to get 'stuck' in a small town being a nobody...so she makes her self a somebody engaged to a wealthy and well-known man. In the end, she goes back to her roots and to the boy she has always had in her heart and who had been quietly fighting, waiting and hoping for her to come back. Well life's not a movie, and it doesn't have those type of happy endings. I have learned you need to live in the now. Because the past is going to remain just that--the past. The future is yet to come and will be a great thing..but it is the future, something we can never have because it is always a day ahead. Live for now and notice the little things and don't take them for granted. The little things will make the big picture a beautiful one.

Lately though, one small thing has been that whole mess that breaks friendships. Everyone has always said 'guys and girls can't be friends.' I have always said that is true, which many find weird considering three-fourths of my friends are guys. But at one point or another, someone has feelings for the other. Or eventually sexual tension builds and they hook-up then pretend it doesn't matter...but it always does...at least for one of them at least at some point. "Men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way....no man can be friends with a woman that he finds attractive. He always wants to have sex with her...and even if the women don't want to have sex with them...doesn't matter because the sex thing is already out there so the friendship is ultimately doomed and that is the end of the story."

So who are your true friends, and what does the world platonic mean? Is that a truthful word? Who can you trust your secrets to if you aren't sure who you can confide in without it hurting you or that person later...but for me right now, I am not sure where I stand. I am not sure where I am going to end up...so how can I let anyone get close to me right now...especially after letting someone get close only to be torn down with no explanation. I don't think I am ready to let anyone get close right now...and in a way that is a good thing. I feel now I can get to where I need to go for ME, and with that hurt behind me, in that past that I can never get back...I can use it to get to that tomorrow I will never reach but enjoy today..knowing that tomorrow will be a better day because of that fight, of that knowledge of knowing I am better off and better than that life I could have had. He let me go and I will not be standing there waiting. I am no longer going to be disposable and dispensable to anyone---one day, guys like that will see where I end up and I hope they know, hope they remember, hope they realize they put me there. Regret, be proud, be happy for me. It won't matter to me because at that point I will be happy in my new life.

...it's just interesting how some things don't turn out...but funny how some things do...

Just remember everyone: before you are ready to let any past dream or hidden goal stay in the past or remain hidden...don't forget that it IS okay to have roots and wings....remember where you come from but don't be afraid to spread your wings and fly...you'll never know where you could end up if you don't other wise.

xoxo
Genna Jean